Putting Politics Aside for Pumpkin Pie

Saturday morning has been industrious. Like Snow White singing a happy cleaning song with her forest friends in tow, my family scurried around the house, making it sparkle like the Southern California weather of  this fine October day. There is a feeling of Autumn, though not from crisp weather or crimson leaves, but from the anticipation of turning back the clocks, candy corn sitting in a bowl on the counter and pumpkin pie being discussed for dessert.

Though we as a family don’t “celebrate” Halloween, we are looking forward to a night of family fun, food and friends. The stew is in the Crock Pot, Ghost Busters is ready for a Premier viewing with the kids and the slumber party guest has a pillow waiting for her head.

Turning the clock back seems to usher in the Holiday Season with earlier bedtimes, the scent of fall flavored candles and the desire to turn the oven on and bake, putting a smile on one’s face and creating anticipation  for the first slice of pumpkin pie , eaten with family and friends, tonight perhaps, and then again for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  But the commercialism that this time of year brings, beginning with Halloween lights of orange and black, to Christmas lights of green and red, for many is the catalyst of the holiday season, wholly lacking in meaning and purpose.

What if we could truly turn the clock back and bring back a better time in America?  What would that look like? In my mind, I picture a Norman Rockwell image and the idyllic scenes of the American family spending a holly, jolly Christmas together, with the focus on family and Christ and not on the walls of Walmart decked with superfluous fluff. But what would make for a picture perfect America and how could we turn back the clock per se to attain it?

Politics will not bring back the best of what Pumpkin Pie represents in America. The first Thanksgiving gave thanks to God for His Bounty and His Provision. Politicians have never provided Pumpkin Pie.  Today, I set aside time to ponder turning back the clock, pumpkin pie and a time with my family that reflects a yearning for moments gone by when America cherished what was lasting and good and understood that all Pumpkin Pie comes from God in heaven.

 

Obama Says that He is not Losing Sleep

“Art and media are the means and bridge over which the current philosophy of the philosophers reaches the general culture.” “Whoever controls the media controls the culture.” Francis Schaeffer – How Should We Then Live?

When the powers that be no longer control the monopoly of ideas and philosophy being fed to the public, then that power must reinstate itself, many times through tyrannical means, to regain control of all avenues of thought and communication.  This is what we are seeing take place in the White House.  The lack of control over the communication that is coming from Fox News, talk radio and the blogosphere has the Administration scrambling to out maneuver the news coming from these avenues.  Obviously, the First Amendment is under attack. Fear has shut down free speech all over the world and throughout history yet because engaged Americans know this, they are wide awake and ready to stand on the “Free Speech Amendment” of the Bill of Rights.

Jim Vandehei and Mike Allen from Politico are running a two part series to look into this attack on Conservative conversation.  They quote Dana Perino, the former White House press secretary to Bush who said, “They won — why don’t they act like it?  The more they fight, the more defensive they look. It’s only been 10 months, and they’re burning bridges in a lot of different places.”  (Vandehei and Allen: Obama Strategy: Marginalize Most Powerful Critics http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28532.html)

Savannah Guthrie, NBC News White House correspondent interviewed President Obama on Wednesday, October 21,2009,  and this same evening on Fox,  Hannity aired part of the exclusive interview in which Ms. Gutherie questioned Obama saying, “This stir over Fox News….is this working, is it appropriate for the White House to say what is and what is not a news organization?”

Obama responded, “Our advisers simply said that we are going to take media as it comes, and if media is operating basically as a talk radio format that is one thing, and if it is operating as a news outlet, that is another.  It’s not something I am losing alot of sleep over.”

According to Hannity, this part of the broadcast was omitted from the actual broadcast. Sleep has been lost in the White House.

Mark Davis, columnist and talk show host wrote in his column for Dallas News.com, “So as the current administration dithers over how hard to fight in Afghanistan, the decision has already been made to launch a surge of rhetoric against the sole network that does not dance to the Obama piper.”

One would agree that there are much bigger fires to fight for the Obama Administration, but their focus on the area  of  Free Speech has put a fire in most American hearts. The attack on the First Amendment Rights of Fox News and other organizations, who raise a voice against the policies of this White House, is something that all citizens should have concern over.

Obama and company can’t seem to handle the truth and so they attempt to marginalize by name calling and scare tactics.  These are not exactly strong leadership skills, but more like street bully skills.  If there is no credibility in the news that comes out of Fox News, then the statement “Be sure, the truth will find you out” should be a relief to the White House.  It is a two way avenue, Fox News must report the facts or else the truth of their fact finding will come to light as fraud; however, the White House also must have the same standard of truth and fact finding.  There is nothing to fear, when there is nothing to hide.  Transparency was one theme that was touted by the Obama campaign, but it appears that being too transparent, or allowing a news organization  to help keep one transparent, isn’t good for Presidential appearances.  If one is not speeding, then one doesn’t have to fear the State Trooper in the rear view mirror.  If the Administration is not “cheating” the American people, then what do they have to fear if any news organization calls into questions the policies being implemented?

Obama is following the play books  of dictators who shut down and/or control the media.  Apparently he recognizes what Francis Schaffer stated in his book How Should We Then Live? that “Whoever controls the media, controls the culture.”  The Obama Administration feels as if it is losing control and therefore is clamping down on those whom they haven’t been able to use as their mouth pieces.

 

What’s the Point?

A seventeen year old government student asked for my time after class yesterday, confused and frustrated with California’s politics.  I don’t blame him, as I have often wondered living on the “Left” coast, if my voice and vote will ever count.  This young man, after researching a current event for class, was angry when he read:

“Californians may have voted in November to amend their state constitution to define the institution of marriage as the union of a man and a woman, but new legislation signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now requires California to validate and recognize same-sex “marriages” performed outside the state as either legal “marriage” or marriage-like “unions.”

His specific ire was toward a system that ignores the voice of the voting public, again and again.  Being new to the study of government and politics, he couldn’t understand the “how” and the “why” a proposition voted on by a majority of Californians could be changed by a handful of politicians.  One could sense the utter frustration this future voter was rightfully feeling.

“Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California”, the language found in Proposition 8, was passed by a majority of 48% of California voters.  Karen England, executive director of Capitol Resource Institute pointed out that, “The governor has chosen to completely undermine the will of the people — the millions of Californians who have twice stated that they intend for only traditional marriage to be recognized in our state.”

According to the Free Republic, the new legislation requires California to recognize same-sex “marriages” from out of state as legal “unions” that must be accorded the “same respect and dignity accorded a union traditionally designated as marriage, also the same rights, protections, and benefits, and shall be subject to the same responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law … with the sole exception of the designation of marriage.’”

The bill was originally vetoed by Gov. Schwarzenegger, yet this second time around he ignored the united voice of his constituents in favor of a well funded and vocal sliver of the population that screams “hate crime” if one disagrees with their homosexual lifestyle.

The Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver, who has litigated in California for almost six years to uphold the natural institution of marriage told LifeSiteNews.com that pro-family advocates as well as Liberty Counsel will mount a a legal challenge to SB 54.  Proposition 8 reverses the State Supreme Courts ruling in Proposition 22 because “as a super-statute, only the people, not the governor or the legislature, have the power to override those provisions” he said.

I suppose the moral to the story is that the battle never ends and one moral victory can be overturned by the one who wields the sword.  Yet the voter must not give up when the government ignores his vote, but rather, he must “rage against the machine” until every democratic resource has been exhausted.

California is notoriously liberal and its “rulers” are flippantly arrogant to ignore the conservative voice that comes out swinging each election cycle.  The liberals have a choke hold, a well funded choke hold on our State’s capitol, yet Californians continue to go to the polls to speak over the din of dirty politics.  Perhaps, one day, the head of this boa constrictor can be cut off and a sane, balanced compromise will again be found on the floor Sacramento.

 

George Washington v. Barack Obama, the Jury is Out

The life that counts must toil and fight,

Must hate the wrong and love the right:

Must stand for truth, by day, by night-

This is the life that counts.  - Anonymous

There are two phrases repetitively used in regard to the kings of the nation Isreal as found in the Biblical records.  It is black and white when dealing with their morality and character.  “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord” or “He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord”.  The narrative included the king’s acts and political decisions as they lined up with his obedience to the law of God.  What the king did affected the nation and the people followed his lead.  Good kings encouraged moral behavior in the people and evil kings lead the people in the ways of the heathen nations surrounding them.

I was reading a section in II Chronicles 24:17-20 this morning, causing me to reflect on the kings of Israel and the “kings” of America.

After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king and he listened to them.  They abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherrah poles and idols.  Because of their guilt, God’s anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem.  Although the Lord sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.  Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest.  He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands?  You will not prosper.  Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’”.

I realize that this was specifically written about this kingdom and this specific king, yet does not history repeat itself and shouldn’t we learn what we can from the mistakes of those who lived before?

I wonder what the God of Israel would say about the “kings” of America?  How would He label each man that has “ruled” from the Oval Office?  Should George Washington be the archetype for all successive Presidents as King David was for the kings of Israel?  And if so, how should we rate the leaders of the past 200 years?  Is is too offensive today, too intolerant, to say that a leader does “right” or “evil” in the eyes of the Lord?  Or perhaps, we will just remove the eyes of the Lord all together and pretend He doesn’t exist.

Atticus Finch, the lawyer in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird lived in a small town in the segregated South during the 1930’s. He takes on a case to represents an innocent black man against two deceitful white men.  Finch knew he would face hate and prejudice from the community as well as the jury, but he was compelled to speak and act on this man’s behalf because it was the moral thing to do.  He spoke the truth boldly in the face of opposition.

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do. – spoken by Atticus Finch, by Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

In our Nation’s history, many have been like Finch and have spoken the truth in the face of opposition.  As I write this post, I think about the courageous prophets mentioned in the Bible who spoke out against immorality and called the kings of Israel to repentance.  I ponder whether my pen is mighty enough to effect change in my country and if my courage will waver should the “king and his officials” come against my freedom of conscience and speech.

The direction that America is heading is far more complicated than just liberal and conservative politics.  Political thought stems from a deeper understanding of right and wrong, truth and evil.  Proverbs 27:19 says, “As  water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.”  One’s political thought reflects what is in one’s heart.  If the basis of our Nation’s political thought has been guided by hearts that are far from the Truth of the Bible, and I submit that it is, then our Nation is in no better shape than Judah and Jerusalem was in the Scripture. “You will not prosper.  Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.” II Chronicles 24:20

My fellow bloggers, why do you blog?  Is is to make a name for yourself in the vast community of type and thought?  Is it to push to elect a different man or woman?  Or is there a passion to spark a fire of real repentance and change in America?  It begins with us, the individuals, to be willing to be what we require our leaders to be and to hold them accountable to a standard that has been placed so low, that anyone can slither their way into political office if they have enough money and power behind them.  Is this the America we want, or do we demand an America that requires its leaders to lead wearing the same honest shoes that George Washington wore?  Our first President, the archetype to what a President should be said,  “I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” His honesty however wasn’t based on a human standard, for one person’s white lie is another man’s vice; but his standard was the Bible.   We as individuals should live by that standard of honesty and in doing so, require our leaders, from the PTA to the President of the United States to live and lead by such a virtue.

It is better to declare the truth and be rejected, than to withhold the truth just to be accepted.

 

Australian Political Cartoons

 

Help Wanted!

Unemployed? Perhaps submitting your resume for the position of the President of the United States might be an option. If you are interested, please read the following description and mail your qualifications to:

The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,Washington, DC 20500.

According to Scholastic.com (a website for teachers and children, we want to keep it simple)  the description is as follows:

The Constitution assigns the president two roles: chief executive of the federal government and Commander in Chief of the armed forces.

As Commander in Chief, the president has the authority to send troops into combat, and is the only one who can decide whether to use nuclear weapons.

As chief executive, he enforces laws, treaties, and court rulings; develops federal policies; prepares the national budget; and appoints federal officials.

He also approves or vetoes acts of Congress and grants pardons.

Another website for kids provided this chart.  (Hopefully it will help clear up any confusion and enable you to come to an understanding of the requirements for this position.)

Job Description U.S. President
Minimum Requirements:	Must be at least 35 years old Must be a Citizen of the United States Must have lived in the United States for at least 14 years
Term of Employment:	4 years, with the possibility of a second 4 years
Salary:	$400,000 plus $ 50,000 expenses $ 40,000 transportation Free room and board
Job Responsibilities:	Choose cabinet members Command the armed forces of the country Meet with leaders of foreign countries Make treaties with foreign countries Appoint judges and ambassadors Propose new laws Sign bills into law and veto bills Protect and defend the laws of the United States Pardon criminals Report to Congress once a year

As I see it, there are a few items missing from this list for the office of President of the United States as per President Obama’s example.

1. Media Manipulator
2. Rock Star Persona
3. Olympic Community Organizer for Chicago Bid  2016
4. Male or Female Model for Daily Photo Opts.
5. Late Night Talk Show Circuit Rider
6. Whipping Post for the “World’s Most Wanted Terrorists and Dictators”

If you believe you can fill these historically large shoes, we are desperate!  Quickly respond to this advertisement: our country needs you, our Allies (aka Israel) needs you, the Free World needs a true leader and hero.

 

Women Just Like Me

I am an American woman: a wife, mother, a homeschooler, a worship leader, musician and blogger, looking to encourage other women who hold a deep passion for the restoration of our country.  As I watched Glenn Beck’s: A Mother’s Challenge: A 9.12 Report, I came face to face with woman who articulated the concerns I too feel as a mother, living in a country rapidly changing its red, white and blue colors, to a bleak shade of unrecognizable.  The audience was a melting pot of women who held various political, educational, religious and ethnic backgrounds, yet were united as mothers under the common concern for the future of their children.

Glenn Beck surveyed this group of woman and narrowed forty pages of concern down to these top three:

1. History Not Being Taught to Our Children
2. Parent’s Losing Their Rights
3. Killing Our Children’s Future

As the camera scanned the room of smiling faces, any of which could have been my next door neighbor; Glenn Beck teasingly referred to his special guest audience, (with his satirical grin in place), as the “angry mob, tea baggers or domestic terrorists”, and his guests smirked in return at his sarcastic reference.  Many of these women had taken part in a “Tea Party”, or a “Town Hall” and some had participated in the March on Washington, but most were new to this type of political involvement. They raised however, a cacophony of reasonable dissent and vowed a sustained siege on Washington, determined to effect change, not motivated by purse stings or heavy handed lobbying, but by their concern for their families and a determination to take back their country.

The conversation was poignant and well directed.  Beck would volley a question to his audience and one or two of the ladies would respond.  A woman named Barbara stated, “Our kids are our future.  Our forefathers fought and died for our freedom and it is time for us to do the same for our children and their future.”

In response to this, Frank Luntz, a Republican political consultant and pollster, asked the question, “Are you better off than your parents were when they were your age?”  Most hands raised in affirmation.  Then he asked, “Do you think your children will be better off when they are your age?”  Not one hand was raised in a positive response.  Beck then jumped in and re-phrased the question, asking, “How many of you feel that spiritually, in a completed way, you are better off than your parents were?”  Again, not one hand was raised.

The evening continued as the top three concerns were discussed.  When asked about the issue on: “History is not Being Taught to Our Children”, one lady stated that the Name of God was invoked in every Preamble of all 50 states as the Almighty or Creator and the schools are not teaching this fact of history.  Another woman followed up saying, “Without the morality that comes from a God based life and government system, the entire thing would fall apart, and I think that is exactly what we are seeing in our society.”

Mary Baker, mother of seven and a home school mom said that, “America is a  God inspired idea and if you take Him out, you can’t have America (without God).”

Another woman was concerned that high school and college students don’t realize that, “Socialism is communism light.  Students don’t know their history.”  She was deeply worried that by not knowing the history of communism, this future generation would not know how to stand against it.

A short clip from “The Story of Stuff” was shown to demonstrate how America’s children were being taught to believe that America’s capitalist economy is evil.  When asked to respond to this clip, the audience shared that they believe that the “stuff” in society hasn’t caused unhappiness, but there is “less God therefore less happiness”.  There was an outrage that schools could force this view on the American children, and that parents much of the time remain clueless.

Then Beck raised the issue of the song about Barack Hussein Obama and angrily pointed out that Christmas songs couldn’t be sung in America, but children could be taught to sing the praises of this President, to the point of seemingly deifying him. Again, the audience responded with similar frustration that the State and even the President was being made into an image of god.

The next topic was related to Parental Rights.  Barbara Boxer and her support of the U.N. Treaty on the Rights of Children were mentioned as a very real concern.  These women refuse to let the government tell them how to raise their families.  They were angry to think that they were losing control of their rights to opt out of mandatory government programs, such as shots and the lack of control in what their children were being taught at school.

Frank Luntz pointed out that in a survey, the American people wanted control of their government in the following areas.

1. Accountability
2. Respect
3. Results
4. Bold Action
5. Oversight

Frank Luntz- “What Americans Really Want… Really“

This audience had a real appreciation for their God given responsibility to raise their children and as one gal put it, “We want our children back.”  Another woman said, “Without freedom, we have nothing and that is why we are screaming mad!”

Lastly, Beck asked about the idea that the government was “Killing Our Children’s Future”.  A woman named Leslie encouraged the group saying, “We need to teach our children the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, so when these rights are being usurped, they will know how to stand up and say ‘No, these are my rights.’”  Another young mom said that she feared that the more she fought against the government’s intrusion, the more the government pushed back and took rights away.

The Tea Parties, Town Halls, The 9.12 Project and social networking sites like Smart Girl Nation and blogs such as Girl Pundit, demonstrate that there is a very different belief system to which much of America ascribes and those who hold these views believe America is in grave peril.  No longer can we sit still and slowly boil to death, but rather must take real action, even if it is outside of one’s comfort zone.  We now clearly see what the ultimate price for our freedom is, should we do nothing.  Freedom costs, yet the death of freedom is more costly.

A unanimous show of hands was raised when the moms were asked by Beck, “How many of you are willing to lose it all for the sake of one’s children, if pure freedom was at the end of it?”  The truth is that those who first came to these shores did willingly “give it all up” for the sake of their children’s future and the right to worship God.  Freedom was the destination and for many, death was the price they paid.

This fight for freedom would be a daunting task if one faced it alone.  But we have stirred the heart-fires of many like-minded women who demand a better future for their children and are willing to fight for that future.  There are moms like me, who have taken time out of their everyday lives to speak their minds, walk an event like the March on the Capitol, attend a Town Hall meeting, post a blog, or call their Senator, all in the name of freedom and the future of our Nation.  The time is now to become involved in the process of democracy, let your voice ring out, so that freedom will continue to ring for future generations!

 

If Men Were Angels…..

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” James Madison-Federalist Papers Number 51.

A light is lit in a dark room to scatter the blackness, to uncover potential hazards and many times to send the cockroaches running.  This past week, light has been directly aimed into various dark corners and the cockroaches have indeed scattered.  Acorns are falling from trees,  a peanut farmer spreads hate and a spoiled nut steps into the spotlight, opens his mouth and spews insults.  Where is the morality?  Where are the ethics?  What happened to polite society?

While driving home after teaching a Government class for an engaging group of seniors high students, another vehicle passed by mine, slowed down and the young man in the back seat proceeded to drop his window,  drop his drawers and share his hind end with me and my car full of kids.  So much for keeping things in the dark!  Apparently this cockroach liked the sunshine, but it made me think deeply about the moral direction or  lack of it  in our country.  The contrast of the “mooning teen” to the teens who were passionately discussing the loss of individual rights when the “bad apples” in society break the law and law makers make blanket legislation that hurt those who uphold the law, was poignant.

Noah Webster stated, “The moral principles and precepts contained in Scripture ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.  All the miseries and evils which men suffer from, vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.”  If  this is true and I believe it is, then it explains the “why” to the condition of our morally decaying society.  When there is no bedrock of absolute truth, when society lives by it’s own wavering definition of “rightness”, then we end up with a society of citizens, run by a government of officials who don’t pay their taxes, who lie, cheat and steal, who support an ideology of “just don’t get caught” and who act like Eve in the Garden of Eden passing the buck when they are caught with their pants down.  If the “grown ups” who run the government, work in the schools,  for the unions, the hospitals and the car dealerships (a very short list) live by their wishy-washy whims, then how can we expect the youth of the nation to live any differently?

We act shocked by the Acorn scandals this past week, but why are we, when right is might and morality is fleeting?  Webster may seem prophetic in his statement: “All the miseries and evils which men suffer from, vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible”, yet this isn’t prophetic, but merely learning the lessons from history and hind sight.  Immorality is as old as the foundation of the earth and nothing in human nature alone can over come its grip.  Yet we choose to not learn from the mistakes of those before us and pridefully believe we have evolved into a better creature.   I have yet to see an evolved ethically moral human being without the foundation of Biblical Truth permeating his life.

Clive Staples Lewis penned this poem that speaks clearly about the nature of man: 

All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through:
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, re-assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin:
I talk of love –a scholar’s parrot may talk Greek–
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.

Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack.
I see the chasm. And everything you are was making
My heart into a bridge by which I might get back
From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking.

For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains
You give me are more precious than all other gains.

Humanity, brought into the glaring light of morality, will scatter like a cockroach unless it has learned to live, believe and be changed by the Scripture.  We who desire to see our country restored must be willing to live by the standards that we require others to live by.  Our morality must be whiter and truer than the next man’s morality because only then do we have a relevant leg to stand on.  Our morality must be based on non-shifting truth and we must raise the bar for the youth of the nation to live by the higher standard and not tolerate unethical and immoral behavior.  We must demand our public officials to sign a new Magna Carta stating that they will abide by an high ethical standard and hold them to it.  We must not only hold our politicians to the strict construction of the Constitution, but we also must be willing  ourselves not only live it, but die for it.

Men are not angels and can easily devolve into cockroaches when the lights of morality are dim.  Let us not dumb down our moral curriculum just because it is difficult to live by, but rather raise the bar and raise a nation of youth who rise up to the occasion of doing what is right.  And when government or any other public or private office in America ducks under this bar, we need to turn the lights on, expose them and reach for the bug repellent.

 

Obama 101

I remember being taught as a little girl to love the Lord God and serve Him only.  I remember standing with my fellow classmates each morning, hand over my heart, saying with respect for each word, “I pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.”  I remember being taught in school to honor and respect the office of the President, a position that has been gilded by such noble men as George Washington, James Madison and Abraham Lincoln.  I remember walking to the polling place each election year and somehow knowing even as a child the significance of casting a vote.  I remember  having the privilege in second grade of signing a “Declaration of Independence” in honor of our nation’s two hundredth birthday and sending it from the west coast to the east in a covered wagon.  But what I don’t remember is a political agenda of a President and an indoctrination coming from Washington D.C. to affect my mind as a young child.

School was a place of learning and ideas; it was a place where teachers inspired this learning and where friendships lasted.  School was about the recess games and spelling all the states’ names correctly.  The teachers cared about the child’s academic progress and  growth with the objective: to teach  him to grow in wisdom, stature and favor with God and man.

How then, if this is what school was, do we find ourselves pledging not to the flag, but to an ideology carried on the authority of the President.  No time in the history of the United States has a President infiltrated the halls of learning in such a manner.  Is it historic?  Perhaps.  Is it right?  I think not.

First ladies have visited schools for the cause of education. Campaigning politicians have visited the classrooms of their precincts to meet and greet teachers and parents. However, to have the standing President become the cheer leader of an ideological cause which demands a pledge of service from children who have no voice in the political spectrum is insidious.  Obama however demonstrates his genius through this agenda to take this captive audience of young impressionable children and infiltrate their impressionable minds.  His marketing techniques for his “Change” and “Hope” campaign are brilliant yet beyond the pale.   “Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed” and thus Obama enters the classroom.

Some may argue that the children of America are getting the pleasure of having the President of the United States speak in their classrooms and perhaps this would be true if there was not a blatant agenda presupposing the visit.  This is  a campaign for the hearts and minds of our children, a segment of society that should be left out of the political fray and allowed to be nurtured by their parents; schooled in reading, writing and arithmetic and not used as pawns in this Administrations’ plans for its future.

When Barack Obama took office, he swore to the American people these words: “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitutions of the United States.”  This is the same oath which every President has solemnly promised to the people he has served.  Yet this forty-fourth president has forgotten that though he sits in the most powerful seat in the world, he came to this position by only 53% of the people’s votes, yet when he took this oath of office it was as President to 100% of America.  Barrack Obama is our public servant who works for the United States of America in the capacity of chief executive.  His paycheck is signed by the American people and as our employee; he should be listening to those for whom he works instead of indoctrinating America’s children.

This Tuesday, “We the Parents” must take a strong stand for our children. We must send a message to our government that they work for us, that the liberal agenda does not belong in the classroom and that the President needs to stay in the Oval office and do the work of a President.  If our government uses sanctions to put pressure on others countries that are out of line, then we, the parents should sanction our government by keeping our children home on Tuesday and therefore send a message that affects the pocket book of each district that refuses to listen to its clientele. The government, in its many forms, works for us and when that government is not working well for us, we fire it.  The Administration dismisses the voice of the people, as “astroturf” and  “Right Wing Domestic Terrorists” and as such, we must continue to turn up the our democratic heat, live out loud our First Amendment rights and protect the future of America, our children.

 

Lessons from the North Wind

“I don’t quite understand you North Wind. You tell me what then.” “Well I will tell you . If you see me with my face all black, don’t be frightened. If you see me flapping wings like a bat’s, as big as the whole sky, don’t be frightened—you must believe that I am doing my work. Nay, Diamond, if I change into a serpent or a tiger, you must not let go your hold of me, for my hand will never change in yours if you keep a good hold. If you keep a hold, you will know who I am all the time, even when you look at me and can’t see me the least like the North Wind. I may look something very awful. Do you understand?”

“Quite well,” said little Diamond. (At the Back of the North Wind-George Macdonald)

I am learning to be like Diamond, though not ready to say, “Quite well” with as much belief behind it. God is under no obligation to explain things to me. Yet He does whisper, don’t be frightened. He is under no pressure to move in my timing and He tells me, “I make all things beautiful in My time.” He doesn’t have to look like the God I picture Him to be, or the sweet little Jesus portrayed by some Master Painter. He is the Great I Am. How does one picture this?

So when the rug again gets tugged and I land on my back side looking up and weeping because I don’t get it, I must realize that all I have to do is keep holding onto His hand. If I hold onto Him, I will know who He is at all times. Many times, I don’t hold on, or at least I loosen my grip and don’t feel the indents of His nail scarred hands and then I begin to question and fear. But it is I who have let my hold lessen when the darkness of the situation is upon me. The time I need to cling to the light, I panic and squirm to get to what I think is a reasonably safe place to be, yet He is all Goodness and Truth and will never let me go.

The beautiful thing about the Hand of God is His scars that touch my life remind me of the Love He has for me. If the circumstances of my life appear dark, I can feel His hand and remember that dark Friday when the scars were fresh wounds. The darkness of that day gave way to eternal beauty and the glory of the Lord reigned in heaven and on earth. The tears that I have cried today are not forgotten by my God. His hand reaches down and wipes my cheek while His voice whispers, “Peace, be still, do not be afraid.” I may not recognize His shape at times, but I hear His voice and know Him and He knows me. I feel His hand and know the marks that represent my salvation, will faithfully guide and protect me. I know that the tears that have fallen and the prays that have been cried are worship to God’s ears and that He loves me and hears my desperation.

The North Wind blows and I know not where it comes from or where it goes, but I believe….

 

Thomas Paine Exhorts Parents

“As parents, we can have no joy, knowing that this government is not sufficiently lasting to ensure any thing which we may bequeath to posterity: And by a plain method of argument, as we are running the next generation into debt, we ought to do the work of it, otherwise we use them meanly and pitifully. In order to discover the line of our duty rightly, we should take our children in our hand, and fix our station a few years farther into life; that eminence will present a prospect, which a few present fears and prejudices conceal from our sight.” Thomas Paine, Common Sense – 1776

It is my job, as a parent, to raise and protect the children that God has given me. It goes beyond the obvious needs of food, clothing and shelter and into an even greater need of “Train(ing) a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6.  Raising a child involves love, discipline, education and looking out for their needs now, as it will affect them when they are old. If parents in America only provide for a child’s physical needs, forgetting to nurture the whole child, then American parents have done nothing more than what a wild animal does for its offspring. My work as a parent goes well beyond the obvious and must be intentional in training, raising, and nurturing them into moral, ethical and God-fearing adults who will in turn also raise a generation who live and do likewise.

I must also fight for the ethical and moral rights of my children in the political arena, as they are unable to do so for themselves. As Paine stated, “We ought to do the work of it, otherwise we use them meanly and pitifully.” He was looking at his posterity realizing that the condition of the country in which they lived needed a drastic overhaul and unless the adults stepped up and took the initiative, the children would suffer for it. He recognized that it was his responsibility to leave to the next generation, a country and a constitution that would be radically different from that which the world had seen. He said, “The sun never shined on a cause of greater worth. ‘Tis not the affair of a city, a country, a province, or a kingdom, but of a continent – of at least one eighth part of the habitable globe. ‘Tis not the concern of a day, a year, or an age; posterity are virtually involved in the contest, and will be more or less affected, even to the end of time, by the proceedings now. Now is the seed-time of continental union, faith and honor.”

We are in a battle that represents more than just regaining the Congress with a Republican majority. This is about the America our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will inherit. It is waged for their future and for the hope that they will continue to live in a country that is still a shining light on the hill in contrast to all the nations of the earth that have been, are and will be. Freedom must always be guarded and battle lines must always be armed to defend freedom. When people become apathetic and lulled into a false sense of security, the enemies of freedom infiltrate and erode from within. The city on the hill has allowed the Trojan horse to enter the gates, yet because we know the story of the horse, we can destroy it, before it destroys the country that we love and cherish.

America is awake and fighting mad. I pray that it is more than personal and that those who are showing up to the Tea Parties are doing so for this generation, the generation to follow and the one that came before. This fight can not be merely a selfish angst against health care reform, but rather a righteous indignation that America, bought with the blood of thousands of men and woman; can not, should not, be allowed to become like every the other nation in the history of the world. America was given the opportunity in the pages of history to be different, to not be like the European nations across the great Atlantic, but to strike out and begin a republic that would be a “new world….the asylum for the persecuted, lovers of civil and religious liberty from every Part of Europe. Hither have they fled, not from the tender embraces of the mother, but from the cruelty of the monster…..” (pg 139, Glenn Beck’s Common Sense) We must not allow the struggle of our Nation for a Republic Democracy in 1776, to become a wisp on the pages of history, but rather the defining government in all of history. We must not believe that the struggle ended with the surrender of Britain over two hundred years ago, but rather continues today through the diligent care of those who hold democracy in their hands: we the people.

We the people are we the parents of the future of this nation. Our children depend upon us to stand up for their future rights by being involved in the process of our government. We are not governed, we are the government. However, if we allow ourselves to be controlled by those in Washington, instead of controlling them, then we have lost sight of what our job entails, and what their elected position requires. We can not be so busy living life that we forget to protect the very home that we will be leave to our children. We can not be so busy playing, that we forget our duty to provide for the future of our kids. We can not be so apathetic, that we are not diligent to train up our children, to feed our children and to protect them from those who don’t have their personal best interest at heart.

Our posterity depends upon “We the Parents in and of these United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and tour posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.”

 

A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste

The little girl’s shoulders shook as she tearfully hugged her big brother good bye.  The mother stood by with her hand on her son’s shoulder, painfully dealing with the transition from high school student to college freshman.  The scene was touching and brought back personal memories of just a year ago as I too experienced this emotional release in 2008 when my daughter entered the university for the first time. Yet there was peace knowing that the college she was attending was built on this mission statement:  “Biblically centered education, scholarship and service- equipping men and women in mind and character to impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The first institution in America was founded in 1636 by a Puritan named John Harvard.  He left his library of 400 books to found a “seminary” with this understanding, “The maine end of [a student's] life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17:3, and therefore to lay Christ in the bottome, as the only foundation of all found knowledge and learning.” (Samuel, Eliot Morison, The Founding of Harvard College).  Today the mission statement for Harvard is vastly different.  “In brief: Harvard strives to create knowledge, to open the minds of students to that knowledge, and to enable students to take best advantage of their educational opportunities.” Harvard no longer espouses that the study of God and Jesus Christ is the foundation of all found knowledge and learning, but rather there is a denial of God and the belief that humans can create knowledge.  Education has devolved from its superior beginnings in America when the Progressive agenda took root, walking away from the classical preparation that made the true pursuit of knowledge and truth foundational and moving toward an education of experience, resulting in an incremental “dumbing down” of Americans dating back to the early twentieth century.

Parents today may send their children off to prestigious learning institution, feeling secure in the campus security, the dorm life, and the extra-curricular activities these schools may offer, but because parent’s have also been indoctrinated into a Progressive mentality, it doesn’t occur to them to be wary of the propaganda taught at most universities.  Glenn Beck points out in Common Sense that the educational system has “fallen prey to political patronage and the Progressive agenda.”  Beck also quoted Woodrow Wilson, once president of Princeton University, (another one of America’s first colleges founded to meet the needs of training ministers) who said, “Our problem is not merely to help the students to adjust themselves to world life….[but]to make them as unlike their fathers as we can.”  Beck, Glenn Common Sense, Pg 91.

When did the fathers of our country become unworthy of study and emulation?  Who should we fashioning our lives after, if it is not the great men and women in history, our American history?  Who should children view as worthwhile role models if it is not their fathers? When did the colleges and universities become enemies of the parent instead of a support system to help the child to succeed in becoming an adult?

According to Gary Amos and Richard Gardiner in their book Never Before in History, the standard for graduation in the 1700s from Harvard was as follows:

17. Every student who, on trial, shall be able to translate from the original Latin text, and logically to explain the Holy Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testament, and shall also be thoroughly acquainted with the principles of natural and moral philosophy, and shall be blameless in life and character, and approved at public examination by the President and the Fellows of the College, may receive the first degree.

The Masters Degree required the following:

18. Every scholar who has maintained a good standing, and exhibited a written synopsis of logic, natural and moral philosophy, arithmetic and astronomy, and shall be prepared to defend a proposition or thesis; shall also be versed in the original languages, as aforesaid; and who carries with him a reputation for upright character and diligence in study, and shall pass successfully a public examination, shall be admitted to the second, or Master’s degree.

Today according to the Harvard website, graduation requirements to earn the bachelor’s degree, a student must complete 128 credits and maintain good academic standing (2.0 GPA). At least 64 credits must be completed at Harvard University. A student must fulfill all of his or her requirements and be in good academic and financial standing with Harvard University, with no disciplinary or administrative procedures pending, to graduate and participate in May Commencement. Each school of study of course has differing requirements for its emphasis, but it is interesting to note the very different tone that one finds today at one of America’s most renowned universities and the requirements of two hundred years ago.

Most interesting is the requirement that the student must be upright and blameless in life and character and having a thorough knowledge of the Bible in the 1700’s Laws and Statutes for Students of Harvard College. One would be hard pressed to find such a high standard for graduation from any school today, let alone America’s oldest institution of higher learning: Harvard University. Academic standards are set without regard for the character of the individual and no where is the Bible seen as an indispensable factor for a well rounded scholar.

Our lower institutions of learning have an even tougher climb to reach the excellence of early American schools. The New England Primer was the text book that emphasized both Christian character and literacy and classical education was a standard for many colonial Americans, along with apprenticeships to provide skilled training.

Today’s classrooms would not be allowed to have a New England Primer, as it would offend those who believe in the separation of church and state. The Primer utilized Bible stories to help teach the alphabet and the Westminster Catechism was also part of the text. Samuel Eliot Morison said, “American revolutionary leaders, both North and South, Madison, Wythe, and Jefferson, the Rutledges and Pinckneys, as well as Hamilton, Jay, and the Adamses, and Trumbulls, could never have rendered their distinguished services to the young republic without that classical leaning which is denied to most Americans today. (Samuel Eliot Morison, Three Centuries of Harvard (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1936), 136.

How do we expect our children to excel in grade school, middle school and high school when the standards of education are at an all time low? When Progressivism has a choke hold on real education, when indoctrination is the ring of the school bell, and the diploma of good citizenship is given to a student who can spew out the correct responses on a test that measures the ability to think green, distrust the government and treat people equally. We are not raising an army of brilliant thinkers as the founding fathers were, but rather a generation whose work ethic, morality and character are easy to mold by those who believe they know what is best. Yet this “knowing” leadership also attended the schools of Progressive instruction and they too are not in the same league as the excellent scholars, thinkers and statesmen that the Founders were.

How can we as parents pursue an education for our children, that reflects excellence and strives for a standard that few achieve, a standard that early Americans set and achieved? We as parents do know what is best for our children, even in regard to education, though the local school district and the Obama Administration would say the contrary. American schools are failing our children not because students are not learning to read, write and do basic math, but because the standard of excellence, the standard of “blameless in life and character” is not the key element in a child’s life. When we take away the foundation of Biblical scholarship and morality and replace it with an ever changing ideology of humanism, then the goal becomes only to clone robots who espouse the philosophy of the powers that be. When high moral character and biblical ethics are separated from the education of a child, only the outer shell will appear polished. Test scores may reflect understanding and in academics that child may find success, but the inner person will struggle for meaning that was never addressed in this pursuit of knowledge.

A wholly educated person is educated in mind, body and spirit and is a danger to the Progressive agenda, because that person has the ability to reason, to consider ethical ramifications and to speak against the wrongs that the government is foisting on the “tired and huddled masses”. This is why education is the most crucial weapon that we have as parents and that the Progressive desire to hold in complete control. There is recognition that if the masses can be educated just enough to know how to follow their “teachers”, then an army of “yes men” can be established. This is why parents must do their due diligence to be connected with their child through every part of schooling, even the choosing of the university. This too should becomes a family affair as the family releases the life, mind, and spirit of their child to an institution that will either reinforce the values of the family unit and build it into a stronger entity, or will do the work of a cancer and slowly destroy the value system of that individual, creating in that student an individual who questions the loving authority that nurtured it and instilling a group think mentality focused on experience and skills needed for a future society.

The future of America is in the children that we raise. Mediocre is not an option. Parents must become more deeply engaged in the philosophy of the educational process, as well as breaking the chains that have imprisoned our minds as well. We must re-educate ourselves, recognizing that we all have had a dose of Progressive indoctrination, and we must return to the educational pattern that helped establish this nation. Those who rule on high in Washington are products of this century old heist of the American mind. Like the old proverb, they too have been the frog, slowing dying in an ever warming pot of water. But the fire can be extinguished and the death of brilliant minds stopped. It is not too late to stop the march of this Statist ideology but it must become personal and we must return to the pursuit of truth that Harvard was built on at its inception: “The maine end of [a student's] life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17:3, and therefore to lay Christ in the bottome, as the only foundation of all found knowledge and learning.” Without this foundation, we may truly say, the mind is a terrible thing to waste.

The little girl’s shoulders shook as she tearfully hugged her big brother good bye. The mother stood by with her hand on her son’s shoulder, painfully dealing with the transition from high school student to college freshman. The scene was touching and brought back personal memories of just a year ago as I too experienced this emotional release in 2008 when my daughter entered the university for the first time. Yet there was peace knowing that the college she was attending was built on this mission statement: “Biblically centered education, scholarship and service- equipping men and women in mind and character to impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The first institution in America was founded in 1636 by a Puritan named John Harvard. He left his library of 400 books to found a “seminary” with this understanding, “The maine end of [a student's] life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17:3, and therefore to lay Christ in the bottome, as the only foundation of all found knowledge and learning.” (Samuel, Eliot Morison, The Founding of Harvard College). Today the mission statement for Harvard is vastly different. “In brief: Harvard strives to create knowledge, to open the minds of students to that knowledge, and to enable students to take best advantage of their educational opportunities.” Harvard no longer espouses that the study of God and Jesus Christ is the foundation of all found knowledge and learning, but rather there is a denial of God and the belief that humans can create knowledge. Education has devolved from its superior beginnings in America when the Progressive agenda took root, walking away from the classical preparation that made the true pursuit of knowledge and truth foundational and moving toward an education of experience, resulting in an incremental “dumbing down” of Americans dating back to the early twentieth century.

Parents today may send their children off to prestigious learning institution, feeling secure in the campus security, the dorm life, and the extra-curricular activities these schools may offer, but because parent’s have also been indoctrinated into a Progressive mentality, it doesn’t occur to them to be wary of the propaganda taught at most universities. Glenn Beck points out in Common Sense that the educational system has “fallen prey to political patronage and the Progressive agenda.” Beck also quoted Woodrow Wilson, once president of Princeton University, (another one of America’s first colleges founded to meet the needs of training ministers) who said, “Our problem is not merely to help the students to adjust themselves to world life….[but]to make them as unlike their fathers as we can.” Beck, Glenn Common Sense, Pg 91.

When did the fathers of our country become unworthy of study and emulation? Who should we fashioning our lives after, if it is not the great men and women in history, our American history? Who should children view as worthwhile role models if it is not their fathers? When did the colleges and universities become enemies of the parent instead of a support system to help the child to succeed in becoming an adult?

According to Gary Amos and Richard Gardiner, in their book Never Before in History, the standard for graduation in the 1700s from Harvard was as follows:

• Every student who, on trial, shall be able to translate from the original Latin text, and logically to explain the Holy Scriptures, both of the Old and New Testament, and shall also be thoroughly acquainted with the principles of natural and moral philosophy, and shall be blameless in life and character, and approved at public examination by the President and the Fellows of the College, may receive the first degree.

The Masters Degree required the following:

• Every scholar who has maintained a good standing, and exhibited a written synopsis of logic, natural and moral philosophy, arithmetic and astronomy, and shall be prepared to defend a proposition or thesis; shall also be versed in the original languages, as aforesaid; and who carries with him a reputation for upright character and diligence in study, and shall pass successfully a public examination, shall be admitted to the second, or Master’s degree.

Today according to the Harvard website, graduation requirements to earn the bachelor’s degree, a student must complete 128 credits and maintain good academic standing (2.0 GPA). At least 64 credits must be completed at Harvard University. A student must fulfill all of his or her requirements and be in good academic and financial standing with Harvard University, with no disciplinary or administrative procedures pending, to graduate and participate in May Commencement. Each school of study of course has differing requirements for its emphasis,

but it is interesting to note the very different tone that one finds today at one of America’s most renowned universities and the requirements of two hundred years ago.

Most interesting is the requirement that the student must be upright and blameless in life and character and having a thorough knowledge of the Bible in the 1700’s Laws and Statutes for Students of Harvard College. One would be hard pressed to find such a high standard for graduation from any school today, let alone America’s oldest institution of higher learning: Harvard University.

Academic standards are set without regard for the character of the individual and no where is the Bible seen as an indispensable factor for a well rounded scholar.

Our lower institutions of learning have an even tougher climb to reach the excellence of early American schools. The New England Primer was the text book that emphasized both Christian charact

er and literacy and classical education was a standard for many colonial Americans, along with apprenticeships to provide skilled training.

Today’s classrooms would not be allowed to have a New E

ngland Primer, as it would offend those who believe in the separation of church and state. The Primer utilized Bible stories to help teach the alphabet and the Westminster Catechism was also part of the text. Samuel Eliot Morison said, “American revolutionary leaders, both North and South, Madison, Wythe, and Jefferson, the Rutledges and Pinckneys, as well as Hamilton, Jay, and the Adamses, and Trumbulls, could never have rendered their distinguished services to the young republic without that classical leaning which is denied to most Americans today. (Samuel Eliot Morison, Three Centuries of Harvard (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1936), 136.

How do we expect our children to excel in grade school, middle school and high school when the standards of education are at an all time low? When Progressivism has a choke hold on real education, when indoctrination is the ring of the school bell, and the diploma of good citizenship is given to a student who can spew out the correct responses on a test that measures the ability to think green, distrust the government and treat people equally. We are not raising an army of brilliant thinkers as the founding fathers were, but rather a generation whose work ethic, morality and character are easy to mold by those who believe they know what is best. Yet this “knowing” leadership also attended the schools of Progressive instruction and they too are not in the same league as the excellent scholars, thinkers and statesmen that the Founders were.

How can we as parents pursue an education for our children, that reflects excellence and strives for a standard that few achieve, a standard that early Americans set and achieved? We as parents do know what is best for our children, even in regard to education, though the local school district and the Obama Administration would say the contrary. American schools are failing our children not because students are not learning to read, write and do basic math, but because the standard of excellence, the standard of “blameless in life and character” is not the key element in a child’s life. When we take away the foundation of Biblical scholarship and morality and replace it with an ever changing ideology of humanism, then the goal becomes only to clone robots who espouse the philosophy of the powers that be. When high moral character and biblical ethics are separated from the education of a child, only the outer shell will appear polished. Test scores may reflect understanding and in academics that child may find success, but the inner person will struggle for meaning that was never addressed in this pursuit of knowledge.

A wholly educated person is educated in mind, body and spirit and is a danger to the Progressive agenda, because that person has the ability to reason, to consider ethical ramifications and to speak against the wrongs that the government is foisting on the “tired and huddled masses”. This is why education is the most crucial weapon that we have as parents and that the Progressive desire to hold in complete control. There is recognition that if the masses can be educated just enough to know how to follow their “teachers”, then an army of “yes men” can be established. This is why parents must do their due diligence to be connected with their child through every part of schooling, even the choosing of the university. This too should becomes a family affair as the family releases the life, mind, and spirit of their child to an institution that will either reinforce the values of the family unit and build it into a stronger entity, or will do the work of a cancer and slowly destroy the value system of that individual, creating in that student an individual who questions the loving authority that nurtured it and instilling a group think mentality focused on experience and skills needed for a future society.

The future of America is in the children that we raise. Mediocre is not an option. Parents must become more deeply engaged in the philosophy of the educational process, as well as breaking the chains that have imprisoned our minds as well. We must re-educate ourselves, recognizing that we all have had a dose of Progressive indoctrination, and we must return to the educational pattern that helped establish this nation. Those who rule on high in Washington are products of this century old heist of the American mind. Like the old proverb, they too have been the frog, slowing dying in an ever warming pot of water. But the fire can be extinguished and the death of brilliant minds stopped. It is not too late to stop the march of this Statist ideology but it must become personal and we must return to the pursuit of truth that Harvard was built on at its inception: “The maine end of [a student's] life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17:3, and therefore to lay Christ in the bottome, as the only foundation of all found knowledge and learning.” Without this foundation, we may truly say, the mind is a terrible thing to waste.

 

DOMA Doomed by Obama?

By: Theosebes

Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer, a homosexual California couple, are challenging the Defense of Marriage Act.  This law prevents same sex couples from securing spousal benefits from Social Security, filing joint tax returns and gaining benefit from other federal rights reserved for traditional marriage. DOMA gives the states the right to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.  According to the Associated Press, the Justice Department lawyers have argued that the act is constitutional and they contend that awarding the federal marriage benefits to homosexuals would infringe on the rights of taxpayers in the 30 states that specifically prohibit same-sex marriages.

The Obama administration filed court papers this Monday, August 17, 2009, claiming that they too believe that DOMA discriminates against homosexuals.  According to the filing by Assistant Attorney General Tony West, “DOMA reflects a cautiously limited response to society’s still-evolving understanding of the institution of marriage.”

But would not the converse be true, if the law was reversed, wouldn’t the millions of people who live in traditional marriages, who support traditional marriages then be discriminated against?  And at what point does the institute of marriage stop evolving?  Who gets the final say as to what an “Evolved Marriage” looks like?

Also noted in the Associated Press was that the administration does not agree with the arguments that DOMA protects children by defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

“The United States does not believe that DOMA is rationally related to any legitimate government interests in procreation and child-rearing and is therefore not relying upon any such interests to defend DOMA’s constitutionality,” lawyers argued in the filing.

Ironically, this is the same administration that believes the government (also known as “The Village”) knows how to raise our children better than we and that it would like to send “trained babysitters” to our homes to see that we are parenting right via a little paragraph in the proposed healthcare bill.  This administration also thinks that the United Nation has the right tools to take care of all the world’s children, individually caring for them, through the efforts of U.N. Treaty on Children.  This Administration is not rational about procreation and child-rearing!

If Mr. Smelt and Mr. Hammer want a state that accepts them and recognizes them for who they are, then I say, move to Massachusetts!  Give the people of the states the right to vote their conscience and trust that their voice will be not only heard but also remain law. Let those whose cause has been lost, to either be a good sport about it, or move to a place where they can have the rights they believe they deserve.  An interest group, such as the homosexual lobby, should not be able to over turn the voices of millions of Americans and trample states rights.  The Obama administration has much bigger issues than to get in bed with this particular “special interest group.”

 

California Appeals Court Stands for English Only

By: Theosebes

In 1914, President Theodore Roosevelt stated, “We have room for but one language in this country, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house.”

Last week, the First District Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected arguments that English-only exams violate a federal requirement that limited-English-speaking students “shall be assessed in a valid and reliable manner.” Nearly 1.6 million students in California have limited command of the language, according to a OneNewsNow article.  The court of appeals, in a three-to-zero ruling, upheld a San Francisco judge’s decision that ruled against the bilingual-education group in his 2007 decision.

The lawyer for the school district, Marc Coleman stated that they are considering an appeal to the state Supreme Court.  But Aloysius Hogan, a spokesman for English First, thinks that due to the solid three-to-zero ruling this would be a tough challenge.

Last week, I had the privilege of introducing a ten year old Ukrainian boy to a group of school children.  This young man was adopted by a couple last December and knew absolutely no English when he arrived aside from “hello, yes, no and mommy and papa”.  The day of the assembly, he spoke in very good English to a group of children his age and fielded the questions that these children had for him about the orphanage he had lived in and about Ukraine.  His native tongue is Russian and he had been learning to read Russian.  Here in his new home, he had to learn a new alphabet and is now reading very well for only being here for eight months.

Credit goes to his parents; I am sure, for their dedication in helping him learn the language so quickly.  But this young man has had a much more difficult life than most children ever experience in the United States and is already putting the majority of bi-lingual children and adults to shame.

If an orphan child can come to a new land, learn a new alphabet, learn to read and speak in English, in eight months, than why can’t a high school or any elementary school child do the same?  I would suggest that there is laziness and a lack of care.  The examples theses children have at home demonstrate arrogance for not adopting the language that defines America and its heritage.  There is no reason other than laziness and pride that keeps individuals back from learning the language of the land.  With effort, the lives of the adults and children who do not have a command of the language would improve by making it easier to live in a country with a single language, making it easier to be neighborly and do day to day tasks in the community.

I agree with the Courts decision and believe that pressure needs to be applied to the homes of non-English speakers, holding them responsible for getting their children ready for the world.  It is not the government’s job, but rather the individual who chooses to live in the United States of America.

 

Chuck Norris Doesn’t Just Read Books

Google “Chuck Norris” and the first site that comes up is the website Chuck Norris Facts. He has become a phenomenon on the Internet because of his tough guy image and the jokes pertaining to all things “Chuck Norris”.

Chuck Norris doesn’t read books, he just stares them down until he gets the information he wants out of them.

Yet unlike Al Franken: an actor playing the part of a politician; Chuck Norris has read the Healthcare bill and knows what he is talking about.

“While watching these political hot August nights, I decided to research the reasons so many are opposed to Obamacare to separate the facts from the fantasy. What I discovered is that there are indeed dirty little secrets buried deep within the 1,000-plus page health care bill.”

According to Townhall.com, Mr. Norris did read the bill and found this interesting fact.

“It’s outlined in sections 440 and 1904 of the House bill (Page 838), under the heading “home visitation programs for families with young children and families expecting children.” The programs (provided via grants to states) would educate parents on child behavior and parenting skills.

The bill says that the government agents, “well-trained and competent staff,” would “provide parents with knowledge of age-appropriate child development in cognitive, language, social, emotional, and motor domains … modeling, consulting, and coaching on parenting practices,” and “skills to interact with their child to enhance age-appropriate development.”

It appears that Hillary Clinton’s village to raise American’s children again is sneaking in through the backdoors of our homes via the Obamacare bill.  I for one don’t like Clinton and Obama’s version of a village and don’t intend to live there or let them raise my children.  Their parenting skills are supremely lacking when it comes to running an efficient White House- hold, laying on the backs of our children ninety nine trillion dollars of debt.  I don’t want them teaching my children math skills, as they appear to have none themselves.  I don’t want them teaching my children how to read, as neither appears to have read the Stimulas Bill nor the Healthcare Bill.  I don’t want them telling my children who God is, as neither seems to understand the Bible.  And I would thoroughly disapprove of the babysitters they want to send into my home according to this bill to coach me on how to raise my most treasured possession.

We already see burned out social workers who have no love for the children they purport to “help”.  We see teachers who once had a love for kids stumble in and out of the classroom doing the job, without the motivating love behind it.  These are the types of babysitter who will be trained to assess whether or not we as American parents are doing it correctly, by their playbook.

Obama and Hillary both ascribe to the “It’s a village mentality”, but their village is more global than American and the U.N. Treaty on Children the means to the end.  According to an article at Huffington Post, “democrats from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to California Sen. Barbara Boxer, chair of a Senate subcommittee on human rights, have advocated pushing for Senate ratification of the treaty, which requires two-thirds approval in the 100-seat chamber.”  The Obama administration is looking to ratify this treaty.

As pointed out by Warren Mass in his article Obama May Revive Anti-family UN Child Treaty “like all UN conventions — is not based on the premise stated in our Declaration of Independence that rights are God-given and, therefore, unalienable (inherent and not subject to government restriction). As with the UN Charter itself, and the constitutions of many other nations, the convention presumes to grant rights. Any governmental entity that does this also presumes the converse power to restrict or suspend those same rights.”   This administration does not see our children as belonging to American families, but as to the world.  They desire to push their ethics onto the lives of all Americans, no matter what vehicle it takes, a Healthcare Bill or a U.N. Treaty, and they will not cease or desist until their agenda has permanently changed the landscape of our Nation and individually, our private homes.

My God-given rights as a parent, by virtue of the children God gave me, are not for the government to take away.  I can not stand by and allow what I know is best for my children on a day to day basis, to be stripped away by a government that seems to only desire a nation that won’t back talk and will consent to every agenda.  Washington D.C., Obama and the Democrats believe they can create a “Changed Nation” by getting to the hearts and minds of our kids.  And they are right, they can.  By taking away the rights of parents to love and choose what is best for their families, the government becomes the facilitator of cloned American children, all raised under one standard.  This standard is not “One Nation Under God”, but rather “We are the world, we are the children”.  The standard that has thrown God, the Bible and prayer out of so many crucial places in America will be the one in place when the babysitters come to check on our parenting skills.  And if I, as a parent, get in the way of the babysitter, I will be deemed an unfit mother and placed in timeout, indefinitely.

As Chuck Norris pointed out, “Government needs less of a role in running our children’s lives and more of a role in supporting parents’ decisions for their children. Children belong to their parents, not the government. And the parents ought to have the right — and government support — to parent them without the fed’s mandates, education or intervention in our homes.”

Another claim on children, by another government, was Hitler’s Youth. According to History Learning Site, movements for youngsters were part of German culture. The Hitler Youth was a logical extension of Hitler’s belief that the future of Nazi Germany was its children. The Hitler Youth was seen as being as important to a child as school was. Another dictator also saw the benefit in capturing the minds of children.  As stated also in the Norris article, Josef Stalin once declared, “Education is a weapon whose effects depend on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed.”  These men were smart and so are the Progressive who rule our country today.  They know that they can create permanent Change by leaving an indelible mark on our Nation’s children, through education and re-education of the American parents.

Perhaps this is why the fight against this bill is so impassioned, as deep down, we recognize a take over of things we holder dearer to us than just Healthcare reform.  The take over is our freedom to be Americans, to raise our families in God fearing homes if we so choose and to teach our children what “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” means historically, not progressively.  The fight is far from over, but if we have women and men, like Chuck Norris, ready and willing to take a stand, at all costs for our children and the country they will inherit, we can win and return it to her foundational roots.

 

Thou Shalt Have No Other gods Before the ACLU

“It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.” Patrick Henry, Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution

Last August 2008, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Florida filed suit against the Santa Rosa County School District on behalf of two Pace High School students who alleged that school officials regularly promoted religion and led prayers at school events. Instead of fighting the lawsuit, the School District “consented to the entry of an order that prohibited, among other things, all prayer at school-sponsored events. The School District then consented to a much broader order fashioned by the ACLU, which essentially bans all employees from engaging in prayer or religious activities, whether before, during, or after school hours.” The federal district court of Pensacola, Florida entered the Consent Order without legal argument. According to the Liberty Counsel, which filed a motion to intervene, the order is unconstitutional and far over reaching as it infringes on the rights of the students, administration and teachers.

The Principal Frank Lay and athletic director Robert Freeman of Pace High School are scheduled to go on trial next month on criminal contempt charges. As reported on Onenewsnow.com. Principal Frank Lay asked Robert Freeman to have a prayer for the meal at an honorary luncheon in celebration of some of the athletic achievements. At another event, the principle asked the husband of a clerical worker to offer a blessing over a meal. The husband was not employed by the school. It is because of these two events that these two men are facing criminal contempt charges. If they are convicted, they could both face fines and imprisonment.

Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented: “It is a sad day in America when school officials are criminally prosecuted for a prayer over a meal. The Founders believed that religion and morality are the twin pillars of the Republic. Judeo-Christianity was taught in public schools, because such teaching was the foundation of liberty. George Washington said that whoever undermines the twin pillars of religion and morality cannot be called a ‘Patriot.’ It is outrageous and an offense to the First Amendment to punish a school official for a simple prayer.”

The ACLU represents the Church of England hundreds of years ago, flaunting its own version of religious tolerance and criminally persecuting those who disagree with them and who take a stand against them. Just as the Separatists came to these American shores to escape the ACLU type persecution, today’s Christians have no new land to which they may escape and must take this fight for their constitutionally protected rights to the courts. As long as Americans cave to the bullying tactics of the ACLU, all First Amendment rights will be in jeopardy. The ACLU worships a god, the god of secular humanism and their Bible is their personal agenda to silence those who don’t worship this god of theirs. Perhaps it is time to send the ACLU on their own pilgrimage, on their own Mayflower, to find a country that will tolerate their unconstitutional ways, their religious persecution and their intolerance.

 

Harvey Milk a Hero?

What does Harvey Milk have in common with George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr.?  Absolutely nothing!  Yet his supporters in California desire to elevate him to the same position that these great men hold in history by honoring him with his own “special” day.  What did Harvey Milk ever do that places him on equal footing with Presidents, Veterans and Independence Day?  Absolutely nothing!   He was a vocal, flamboyant politician with an agenda, able to use his charisma and connection to make legislation happen.  How is that much different from any of the politicians today?  Perhaps instead of a Harvey Milk Day in the Public Schools of California, we should make it “fair” for all politicians and call it “Politicians Who Push Their Agenda Day”.  If Harvey Milk had not been murdered by a fellow politician, he wouldn’t be getting a day, but because of his death, he has been raised to iconic status, for being an effective community leader.  What I ask should be the criteria of such an honor?  What gives an individual “hero” status deserving of singular attention by a school board, state or nation?

HE’RO, n. [L. heros; Gr. a demigod.]

1. A man of distinguished valor, intrepidity or enterprise in danger; as a hero in arms.

2. A great, illustrious or extraordinary person; as a hero in learning. [Little used.]

3. In a poem, or romance, the principal personage, or the person who has the principal share in the transactions related; as Achilles in the Iliad, Ulysses in the Odyssey, and Aeneas in the Aeneid.

4. In pagan mythology, a hero was an illustrious person, mortal indeed, but supposed by the populace to partake of immortality, and after his death to be placed among the gods.

America has lowered the bar for what defines a hero and because of this mis-definition, anyone can claim the title without doing anything for his or her fellow man.   Harvey Milk is not a hero, he is not a man distinguished by valor, intrepidity or enterprise in danger.  He may have served in the armed forces and we thank him for that service, but this does not deem him hero status and worthy of a day named in his honor.  He lived a lifestyle that he chose to promote through the political process, rising up through the ranks and fighting for his homosexual community.  But that doesn’t elevate him to hero status either, as most politicians fight for what he or she believes in, passionately and persistently. This is the just part of the job and Harvey Milk did his job.  Give him a shiny gold star for his star chart and an “Atta boy”, but don’t give him a day of honor!

To place Harvey Milk on the level with great American’s who in fact hold hero status because of their lives, their personal integrity and character is to negate the very actions that have made these individuals great and worthy of honor.  We place hero status on athletes, actors, musicians and politicians, for what?  What have most of these people done that can be deemed worthy of honorable mention?  Most have gained popularity at best and infamy at worst, without a hint of serving their fellow man.  Yet even in following the golden rule, one should never seek recognition, as this should be part of a civil society, not a heroic deed!

The firemen who saved people from the Twin Towers melting frame are heroes, because though it was their job, they continued to work around the clock for the love of their fellow man. Where is their calendar day?  Why doesn’t the California School Board have a day for heroic 911 volunteers?

What about the men and women who have paid the most extravagant price, serving our countryand giving up their lives to protect our rights to even have this conversation?  What about Cpl. Jason L. Dunham of Scio, New York, who posthumously received America’s highest military decoration two years and nine months after succumbing to a mortal brain injury while fighting in Iraq? What about the soldiers who have given it all and their families who have sacrificed their loved ones for America.  Perhaps they could have a day named in their honor for the California Public School system.

The mothers and fatherswho care for their cancer ridden child, living in and out of hospitals and fighting for every second of their beloved child’s life is worthy of hero status.  Where is their day California?  What about the heroism of the child who undergoes chemotherapy and radiation, fighting to live, longing to play again?  Do not these real life heroes deserve more recognition than Harvey Milk?

The Harvey Milk Day SB 572 is now lying on the desk of Governor Schwarzenegger. He has vetoed similar legislation, but is under much pressure to sign it into law this time.  If signed, according to an email that is circulating, SB 572 would pressure every California public school to have an official Harvey Milk Day promoting the homosexual, bisexual, and transsexual agenda to children as young as kindergarten. The bill is written so broadly, that SB 572 would allow schools to determine what it considers suitable commemorative exercises.

State Senator Mark Leno reintroduced the bill and had Sean Penn the actor who played Harvey Milk at his side.  Leno said that Penn’s Oscar demonstrates to Schwarzenegger that Harvey Milk now has “provincial interest” and therefore the Governor should sign it into law.

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.   Keller, Helen

Let our voices be the tiny pushes of honest Americans speaking loudly to Sacramento and to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger letting him know that Harvey Milk should not have hero status or a day on the calendar. Call Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger at 916-445-2841 and let your opinion be known.

 

Health Care Reform is the House Built on the Sand

By: Theosebes

“My view is that health care reform should be guided by a simple principle: fix what’s broken and build on what works.” Really?  Then why did the American people have to sit through an hour long gilded sales pitch for the 1018 page healthcare reform package?There was nothing simple stated during the Presidential Press Conference regarding healthcare reform.   Nothing to help the American people lean back and say, “This is simple and it makes dollars and sense.”

The average American, when faced with a problem that seems insurmountable, tackles each issue one step at a time.   If the house is falling apart, the owner with common sense looks at what absolutely needs fixing so that he may continue to live in his house as he works to correct that particular problem.  If the plumbing fails, one calls the plumber, not the bank to do a complete home makeover.

Our servants in Washington, the Congress and the President, should learn from those they serve and make one fix at a time.   According to an analysis by Republican staff of the House Ways and Means panel, the deficit from the health care reform bill would be $760 billion by 2024, the end of the first 10 years of full benefits coverage. It would be $1.6 trillion by the end of the 2020s.

This is not how a well run American household handles expenses.  They look at the absolute need before them, and spend the appropriate money to fix the immediate problem before tackling the lesser of the needs.  Health care needs a fix, but not reform.

Obama’s very language, “Health Care Reform” demonstrates that he is waiting with the wrecking ball, to demo the already standing structure that has many durable and worthwhile features in order to redecorate according to his ideological tastes and beliefs.

There is no thoughtful blueprint laid out to see what is worth saving, what needs a little new paint, and what represents the leaking faucet that must be replaced.  There is no prioritizing as to what is absolute necessary, but only, “When it comes to the cost of our health care, then, the status quo is unsustainable. Reform is not a luxury, but a necessity. I know there has been much discussion about what reform would cost, and rightly so.”

Obama’s dream home is not a home in which America can afford to live.  But like many who were caught up in the Real Estate boom, pulling equity from their over inflated homes, pouring it into a dream home reform project that they couldn’t afford and then losing it in foreclosure, so also is this Administration and Congress doing to our Country.  They have no vested interest in the people, but are like the lenders in years past who at all costs, disregarded ethics and morals, sold mortgages to individuals they knew on paper couldn’t afford the ink they were signing with, all for the sake of power and prestige.

The irony is that the President, responding to a question from the Press Corp said, “I have the best health care in the world, I want to see that every American have good healthcare.”  We the people may sit on his porch and have what he terms as “good” while those living in the White House and the Congressional Houses in Washington D.C., get the “best” insurance.  If We the People are their employers, if they work for us, then how is it, that we get stuck with the crumbs off the king’s table?   How is it that we, the rightful owners of the White House and the Houses of Congress are not even invited to the meal to participate in the discussion?

The Biblical parable about the wise and foolish man can speak to this very issue.  In Matthew 7, Jesus talks about building a house, and though He was speaking about spiritual issues, it applies to the kind of decisions that men make and the effects those decisions have on the lives that they influence.  The President, by virtue of his position affects Americans through his decisions.  Judge for yourself, are the leaders of this country building a house on a rock or the sand?  Do their decisions represent wisdom or is their great foolishness in their positions that will cause America to crumble in years to come?

^{24Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:  25And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.  26And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.  28And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:  29For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.}

Health Care Reform is just one of the houses being built on the sand.  It will cause a huge collapse and the fall will be great.

Wise up America!